AN APPROACH FOR HELPING OTHERS

The overall approach described here is based on applying tools for pragmatically realizing goals. It is based on applying tools used in the professional creativity of invention by inventors. Hence, the name for this approach: Pragmatic Realization Therapy (PRT).

1 ) BALANCE OF MULTIPLE APPROACHES

It is the environmental alteration and subsequent fresh evaluation by the client, occurring in the company of an enlightened witness which is sorely lacking from the treatment of many a student in trouble. However, even more tragic, the cause of this lack of approach is often the lack of its understanding and presence in the pedagogical predisposition of the attending professionals in a case.

2) LEARNING ONES OWN FEELINGS

It is essential to start off a session by listening to where the student is at. Then from what the student says one suggests that it sounds like the student is feeling a certain type of feeling and displaying a certain type of response. No judgement is made or given at this time except to empathize with where the student is at. This is almost always very easy to do if you realize that "there but for the grace of God go I".

The student makes any correction that is necessary in what he or she has said or in the counselor's mirroring and empathizing. The student immediately realizes that the counselor is a person who really wants to understand "me" from who "I" am and where "I" have been and how "I" feel.

Usually, this has never happened before. The student also feels very much a participant in getting the correct message across. Mirroring and correction and empathy occur repeatedly as more history is given by the student.

Pretty soon the counselor has a good idea of the student's history and both the student and counselor have a good idea of the student's accompanying feelings and attitudes. Most important, the student feels involved and cared about (not cared for).

3) DEFINITION OF PROBLEM(S)

This need for explanation is what Alice Miller refers to as the need for abused children to have an Enlightened Witness.

In my work with learning disabled individuals this process is usually facilitated by giving the student a short test of two parts. The first is a decoding test and the second is a paragraph reading test. Ideally both tests are tape recorded. The student is told in advance that a recording is being made because it may be very helpful to the student as the interview develops.

The student reads one list of words while the counselor marks any mistakes on a second list. The words are grouped by structured phonetic principle so the counselor can quickly see evidence of patterns of mistakes or absence thereof, which is often just as revealing.

The student then reads paragraphs of text out loud.

At this point the counselor usually explains what the student is doing wrong. Sometimes a range of problems will be discussed as existing.

Immediate evidence is given of this analysis by playing back the student's own words or by showing the student the test results.

This actual evidence is very important. The student can see that he or she just made the type of mistake being identified. Denial is impossible.

At this point it is usually possible to point out to the student just where in his history the student came up against a lack of proper instruction. Again, empathy is very important to accompany honest pattern recognition and analysis. This explanation has always soothed the student. At last there is an explanation. Maybe it's not "all my fault".

4) INAPPROPRIATE COPING MECHANISMS

For example, if a student has trouble distinguishing an individual word from a group of words, the student might mark each sentence or paragraph with a different color.

Every effort is made to recognize the resourcefulness and creativity of the student's coping approach, which is often truly a magnificent work of art.

While praising and applauding the students resourcefulness and creativity and perseverance, the counselor also points out that this was necessary because nobody knew enough to give the student better advise. The student is told that under the circumstances, the student did a phenomenal job of resourceful coping, but that better approaches exist, at least now.

5) BUILD ON REALIZED PREDICTION

The fact that the student can hear a prediction and then see herself do just what was predicted a moment before is mind boggling. The student recognizes pattern on her own from evidence that she herself created.

The student also senses a need for some help to overcome this tendency.

6) PROJECTION

In a very major way the cognitive approach of the individual is just as determinative of that person's personality as the early childhood intrapsychic exchanges with parents, or one's history of medical and physical trauma.

I honestly do not think very many therapists have any idea how much of a person's outlook is determined by the way they cope with information processing. Anyway, the miraculous effects one can repeatedly have on people's entire outlook through the approach outlined here will hopefully come to be known in time.

I approach the issue of wider cognitive projection by going for a walk by the ocean with the student and talking with the person some more about their life. I gradually point out to them, strictly from what they themselves say, that they are using in their interpersonal relations many of the same attitudes that they use in personal reading. It does not take long for the student to see this. Usually they are just spellbound as they finally see a meaning unfolding in their life.

I do not think that it is right to bring up specific cases in this letter because these papers could end up anywhere. However, let me just give two examples, slightly summarized. A 40-ish man came to me for help. His fiance has lead him to me, not quite by the collar - but almost, to improve his conversation ability.

In working with this man, it came out that he could not get any meaning out of reading sentences. He can in fact read many words, but the actual decoding takes so much energy and concentration that he has no concentration left for the actual meaning of the sentences. He compensates by reading the sentences through just as fast as he can, just to get through the "damn" task. There is no meaning in his pronunciation, nor is there any cognitive grouping of words when reading, as is normally done.

What this man did not realize was that he was talking to others the same way he was reading. His communication skills were just an extension of his information input processing techniques.

7) INABILITY TO EXTRICATE ONESELF

I am going now to present a second slightly generalized example. A man in his 30's came to me also having trouble reading. He is from an Italian background. He also can not get any meaning from what he reads. However, his test results are very odd. He can read almost every word correctly. He also reads out loud beautifully. What could his problem be?

In working with him it took only a few minutes to realize that he was spending so much energy subvocalizing while he read that he had no concentration left to spend on the meaning of what he was reading.

He saw what I was saying, but it was literally impossible for him to stop subvocalizing on his own. He just could not see how to do it. He stated that it was impossible not to subvocalize.

8) SPECIFIC PROGRAM FOR IMMEDIATE CHANGE

a) The counselor must provide an altered environment in which the student is induced to participate on a test basis. This environment must have a structure of truth and wholesomeness. Nothing works if the foundation is dishonest or corrupt.

b) The altered environment must provide solutions to the inherent problems and it must do so immediately. In certain cases this occurs by providing new ways of doing things through new products. In other cases this immediate solution can come by showing the student techniques which he or she was simply never aware of earlier but were available.

c) The student must have immediate verification that the altered environment provides the promised results. This must come from the student's own experimentation and verification.

d) The experimentation must continue in such a way as to show the student that there are means by which the student can operate with this improved technique on an ongoing daily basis. This is done by experiencing technology that can be used daily, or by developing transferrable skills.

e) The student realizes that there is nothing wrong with their mind or motivation. All they need to do is to use available technology to help them compensate for certain deficiencies. Then they can read and think just like others.

f) Their self-esteem boosts immediately.

g) Very quickly major personality changes occur as ones overall life outlook becomes more workable.

Let's look now at the two cases I referred to above. When I explained to the boyfriend who had speaking problems why he was talking the way he was, he was very interested. Then we went into my computer room and he sat down at the computer and started to read. I had turned the speed down so that he could only see one word at a time. He caught himself guessing at words rather than reading the words that were there and making sense out of those words. He was amazed that he was doing just what we had predicted. But as yet he was unable to change his behavior. In other words, first I constructed an environment in which he could see himself doing just what I had predicted.

Next, I had him read words slowly with meaning. I constructed an environment for him where the words were presented one by one and with cognitive intervals. All of a sudden he started to read words with some meaning. As soon as he saw himself doing this he became a happy camper. Here again this occurred because I changed his environment. From his participation in the changed environment, he could see that improvement was easily possible.

All this occurred to this man in a way that emerged out of his own words and statements, my expertise as an enlightened witness and my creation of an altered environment. The entire process took about two hours and he and I were immediately able to work out a longer term program. He and his fiance left quite encouraged. I think he will be much improved by his wedding day later this fall.

The second case was similar in many respects. The young Italian man was convinced that he could not read without subvocalizing. He stated that it was impossible. What I did was to present the same text he was reading at a rate just faster than the subvocalization rate. At this speed it was impossible for him to subvocalize. All of a sudden he saw that he could read words without subvocalizing. Furthermore, he saw immediately that when he read without subvocalizing he could get a tremendous amount out of what he read. Within five minutes this man had an entire change in his attitude about his ability to read and learn.

What was the key here? Very simply it was the construction of an altered environment and then experimentation by the student, after explanation and prediction of recognized pattern.

© John F. Adams, 1996